(2nd LD) Kim Jong-il's stable power better for inter-Korean ties: S. Korean president

SYDNEY, March 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's stable control over the communist state is favorable for inter-Korean relations, but he should realize that cooperation will bring his nation more good than confrontation, the South Korean president said.

"It appears from Chairman Kim's recent activities that there are not any serious
problems for him to continue ruling North Korea, and I think it is better to have
a stabilized North Korean regime at this point in time for inter-Korean dialogue
and cooperation," President Lee Myung-bak said, referring to the North Korean
leader by his formal title as the chairman of Pyongyang's National Defense
Commission.
The remarks are a rare direct evaluation of the North Korean leader, who
reportedly suffered a stroke last year, by Lee who took office a year ago. They
were made in an interview with an Australian newspaper, The Australian, published
in its Wednesday edition.
Lee arrived Wednesday in Sydney as part of a three-nation tour that also takes
him to New Zealand and Indonesia.
The comments, according to an official from the South Korean presidential office,
were a "get-well" wish for the North's leader.
"This means we need a stabilized North Korea for peace and stability on the
Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and that we need Kim Jong-il, at least for
now, to ensure stability in the North," the official told Yonhap, asking not to
be identified.
Regarding the North's preparations to launch what it claims is a communications
satellite, the South Korean president said the provocative move could bring
short-term gains but will lead to greater losses in the long run.
U.S. and South Korean military intelligence officials suspect Pyongyang is
actually planning to test-fire a ballistic missile.
"North Korea has taken such actions as firing a missile in the past at times when
it sees appropriate, and I believe it is again trying to take such a strong
action because the new U.S. administration has been inaugurated and the
six-nation talks could be held in the near future," Lee said.
The six-way talks aimed at denuclearizing the communist North involve the two
Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
"Such strong actions may place North Korea in a better position in negotiations,
but in the long run, they will not be so rewarding to North Korea in the
international community," the president said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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